TCNJ

4 The College of New Jersey Magazine Trending In response to the COVID-19 innovation story ("Crisis innovation," winter 2022), I volunteered my design and coding skills to the U.S. Digital Response, which was created to help local and state governments that were struggling technologically during the COVID crisis. I also volunteered with the Pennsylvania unemployment office to make its website easier to use. KERRIN MCLAUGHLIN '16 As a nursing professor at County College of Morris, Laura Cannon Parker '82 developed protocols for her students to safely do their clinicals in hospitals while the pandemic was raging. There is a critical shortage of nurses, and her work as an educator is important to the whole country. JACK PARKER '82 During the early days of the pandemic, when not much was known about the virus or its virulence, I was in charge of a small team from the Civil Air Patrol who, alongside the Red Cross, distrib- uted food in South Central Los Angeles. This is one of the most impoverished regions of LA, and with the schools closed, many kids lost their only source for meals. For their role in serving as California Emergency First Responders over the course of the year, all California Wing members of the Civil Air Patrol were recognized with the National Commanders Commendation Award. RICK ADDANTE '05 I am a student at Rowan School of Medicine and a founding member of the COVID-19 New Jersey Medical Student Coalition. We created this statewide organization to support health care workers during these difficult times, and our efforts have raised $11,500. NAVID RADFAR '15 Grace Smithwick '24 is a perfect exam- ple of how students have made a differ- ence during this time. She took courses to become a pharmacy technician and earned immunization approval from the New Jersey Board of Pharmacy. She worked as the COVID-19 vaccine site coordinator for an independent pharma- cist who serves the Spanish-speaking, uninsured, undocumented residents of Lindenwold, New Jersey, and has given more than 1,000 COVID vaccines. MAANSI CHALASANI '24 MORE CRISIS INNOVATION

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